Calcium magnesium acetate (CMA) has emerged in recent years as the only viable non-polluting replacement for salt, or sodium chloride, as a roadway and walkway deicer. Research and development of CMA by the states as well as the federal governmant is being actively pursued. In one of my previous inventions relating to CMA, I discovered a means of producing a coarse-particle product which is mandatory as concerns the practical ice-melting mechanism (U.S. Pat. No. 4,488,978). The present invention relates to palpable improvements in that process, with attendant economies.